Work vehicle

ABSTRACT

A seatbelt of a work vehicle includes: a first stay provided in correspondence with a first fixing portion of a vehicle body on either one of right/left sides of a seat; a belt reeling portion that reels and stores a belt main body and is attached to the first fixing portion via the first stay; a second stay provided in correspondence with a second fixing portion on the other one of the right/left sides of the seat; and a buckle portion that fixes an insertion fixture extending from the belt reeling portion and is attached to the second fixing portion via the second stay. A first cover member is mounted to the first stay and covers an outward exposed portion of the first stay. A second cover member is mounted to the second stay and covers an outward exposed portion of the second stay.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application Nos.2017-186232 and 2017-186233, both filed Sep. 27, 2017, the disclosuresof which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a work vehicle. Examples of the workvehicle include a multipurpose work vehicle (also referred to as autility vehicle), but there is no limitation to this.

Description of Related Art

(1) First Related Art

The seat of a work vehicle is provided with a seatbelt apparatus (simplyreferred to as a “seatbelt” hereinafter).

This seatbelt includes a belt reeling portion that reels and stores abelt, and a buckle portion that receives insertion of and fixes aninsertion fixture that is provided on the belt extending from the beltreeling portion. In a conventional configuration, the belt reelingportion is provided at a position that is above and on the left or rightside in the right-left direction of the seat, the insertion fixture isprovided at the leading end portion of the belt and at an intermediateportion in the lengthwise direction, and the buckle portion is providedon both side portions in the right-left direction of the seat. Also, thebuckle portions provided on the lateral side portions of the seat arefixed by bolt-coupling to a support stay that is obtained by bending aplate member, and the support stay, the coupling bolt, and the like areexposed to the outside. The support stay is coupled to the vehicle bodyframe, and functions as a vehicle body side fixing portion (e.g., see JP2016-215967 A and corresponding US 2016/0347214 A1).

In the conventional configuration, the support stay for fixing thebuckle portion, the coupling bolt, and the like are exposed to theoutside, and therefore there is a risk that a passenger's body will comeinto contact with the outward exposed edge of the support stay, theprotruding portion of the bolt, or the like when putting on theseatbelt, thus giving the passenger a sense of discomfort. Also, in thecase where the buckle portion is provided with a detection sensor thatdetects whether or not the seatbelt is attached properly, there is arisk that an electrical wire connected to the detection sensor willbecome damaged due to coming into contact with the edge of the supportstay, the protruding portion of the bolt, or the like.

In view of this, there is desire for the ability to support the seatbeltin a manner of preventing disadvantages such as the passenger feeling asense of discomfort and an electrical wire or the like becoming damaged.

(2) Second Related Art

A work vehicle includes an engine, a flywheel that isintegrally-rotatably coupled to a crankshaft of the engine, a starterthat starts up the engine, and a transmission case that receives motivepower from the crankshaft, and there are cases where the starter iscovered by a starter case.

The starter for starting up the engine includes an electric motor thatdrives a drive pinion gear, and this pinion gear is provided so as to becapable of extending from and retracting into the starter case with useof an actuator such as a solenoid, so as to be switched between aprotruding state for starting the engine, in which the pinion gear ismeshed with a driven gear integrally-rotatably provided on thecrankshaft of the engine, and a retracted state of not being meshed withthe driven gear.

In the starter, the intrusion of moisture is a cause for a malfunctionof the electric motor or the like, and therefore the starter case needsto cover the starter in a substantially airtight state, but in order forthe extension/retraction operation of the pinion gear to be performedsmoothly, an air bleeding tube is provided so as to put the space insidethe starter case into communication with the outside space in a statewhere there is little risk of moisture intrusion.

Also, conventionally, the air bleeding tube is provided extending fromthe starter in a substantially horizontal orientation, a space with alaterally outward side covered by a covering plate is formed on alateral side of the engine, and the outside air opening portion of theair bleeding tube is open to the inside of that space (e.g., see JP11-350933A).

With the above conventional configuration, it is possible for thecovering plate to prevent the intrusion of rainwater, moisture flyingfrom the laterally outward direction, and the like. However, with a workvehicle used for farm work or the like, there are cases where washing isperformed to remove waste such as mud that is attached to the vehiclebody, and when water is forcefully sprayed in this washing, there is arisk of the water intruding into the starter through the air bleedingtube.

In view of this, there is desire for a work vehicle that has little riskof water intruding into and negatively influencing the starter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

(1) A work vehicle such as the following is proposed in light of thefirst related art.

A work vehicle comprising:

a vehicle body having a driver portion, the vehicle body further havinga first fixing portion and a second fixing portion;

a seat provided in the driver portion;

a seatbelt apparatus configured to protect a passenger seated on theseat, the seatbelt apparatus including:

-   -   a belt main body, an insertion fixture being provided in a        leading end portion of the belt main body,    -   a first stay provided in correspondence with the first fixing        portion on one lateral side of the seat,    -   a belt reeling portion configured to reel and store the belt        main body, the belt reeling portion being attached to the first        fixing portion via the first stay,    -   a second stay provided in correspondence with the second fixing        portion on the other lateral side of the seat, and    -   a buckle portion configured to fix the insertion fixture        extending from the belt reeling portion, the buckle portion        being attached to the second fixing portion via the second stay;

a first cover member configured to cover an outward exposed portion ofthe first stay, the first cover member being mounted to the first stay;and

a second cover member configured to cover an outward exposed portion ofthe second stay, the second cover member being mounted to the secondstay.

According to this configuration, the attachment stay for attaching thebelt reeling portion to a vehicle body side fixing portion and theattachment stay for attaching the buckle portion to a vehicle body sidefixing portion are fixed to the vehicle body side fixing portions withuse of coupling bolts or the like, and the cover members are mounted tocover the outward exposed portions of these stays.

The attachment stays and the coupling bolts or the like are covered bythe cover members, and the cover members have a smooth outer surface,and therefore a passenger seated on the seat will not feel discomforteven if their hand or the like comes into contact with the cover memberwhen putting on the seatbelt, and even if an electrical wire or the likeis located in the vicinity, there is little risk of the electrical wireor the like becoming damaged.

Accordingly, it is possible to support the seatbelt in a manner ofpreventing disadvantages such as the passenger feeling a sense ofdiscomfort and an electrical wire or the like becoming damaged.

In a preferable aspect, the first stay and the second stay areconfigured with the same shape, and the first cover member and thesecond cover member are configured with the same shape.

According to this configuration, the stays on the right/left sides havethe same shape, and the cover members have the same shape, thus makingit possible to achieve a cost reduction by using common parts, andmoreover, parts having the same structure can be used on the right/leftsides of the seat during assembly, thus eliminating troubles that occurwhen using different parts on the right/left sides, and therefore thisconfiguration is advantageous in terms of facilitating the task of covermember assembly.

In a preferable aspect, the first stay is attached and fixed to thefirst fixing portion with use of a bolt, the second stay is attached andfixed to the second fixing portion with use of a bolt, and each of thefirst cover member and the second cover member is constituted by anelastic material, includes a cylindrical portion configured to fitaround a protruding portion of the bolt, and is held in position by thecylindrical portion and the bolt being press-fitted by elastic force.

According to this configuration, the cover members are held in positionby the cylindrical portions provided in the cover members, which areconstituted by an elastic material, being press-fitted with the bolts byelastic force. In other words, by using the bolts that are forattachment and fixing of the stays, it is possible to attach the covermembers without using special members for attachment. Moreover, thecover members are constituted by an elastic material, and thereforethere is little risk of them becoming damaged even if another objectcomes into contact with them.

In a preferable aspect, a plurality of the seats are provided.

According to this configuration, there are multiple seats, and there isa larger number of attachment stays. Even with this configuration, byusing cover members that have the same structure, it is possible toachieve cost reduction and facilitate the assembly task.

(2) A work vehicle such as the following is proposed in light of thesecond related art.

A work vehicle comprising:

an engine;

a transmission case;

a flywheel case provided between the engine and the transmission case,the flywheel case being configured to cover the flywheel in an airtightmanner;

a starter case configured to cover a starter that is configured forstarting up the engine;

an air bleeding tube configured to put an interior of the starter casein communication with an outward space; and

a joint connector configured to communicate with an interior space ofthe flywheel case or the transmission case, the air bleeding tube beingcommunicated with the outward space via the joint connector.

According to this configuration, the air bleeding tube is incommunication with the outward space via the joint connector, andtherefore the interior space of the starter case and the outward spaceare in communication via the air bleeding tube, thus making it possibleto avoid disadvantages such as heat accumulating in the starter case andthe loss of favorable extending and retracting operations of a piniongear. The joint connector is in communication with the interior space ofthe flywheel case or transmission case, and therefore even if moistureintrudes through the outer opening portion of the air bleeding tube,that moisture can intrude into and be temporarily stored in the flywheelcase or the transmission case, thus making it possible to avoidintrusion into the starter. Also, the amount of moisture that intrudesinto the flywheel case or the transmission case is not very large, andinstead is very small, and therefore naturally evaporates due to heatgenerated by engine running or motive power transmission.

The starter is provided at a position in the vicinity of the flywheel,and the flywheel case and the transmission case are arranged atpositions in the vicinity of the engine, and therefore the air bleedingtube can be configured with a short tube length, and can have a compactconfiguration.

Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the risk that moisture intrudesand negatively influences the starter.

In a preferable aspect, the joint connector communicates with theinterior space at a lower portion of the flywheel case or thetransmission case, and the air bleeding tube includes an outside airopening portion at a position above the engine or the transmission caseto communicate with the outward space.

According to this configuration, moisture that intrudes through theoutside air opening portion is guided to the interior space of theflywheel case or the transmission case via the air bleeding tube andthen the joint connector located on the lower side. The starter isprovided at a position higher than the lower portion position of theflywheel where the joint connector is provided, and therefore moisturedoes not move through the air bleeding tube toward the starter that isat a higher position, and it is possible to avoid the intrusion ofmoisture into the starter.

In a preferable aspect, a branch tube is connected to the air bleedingtube at a position associated with the outside air opening portion side,and the branch tube extends approximately along a horizontal direction,and the outside air opening portion is formed in each of opposite endportions of the branch tube.

According to this configuration, the outside air opening portion isformed in each of end portions on two sides of the branch tube thatextends approximately along the horizontal direction, and therefore ifmoisture intrudes through either one of the outside air openingportions, the moisture can pass through the horizontal branch tube andbe discharged to the outside through the outside air opening portion onthe opposite side, and it is possible to further reduce the risk ofintrusion toward the starter.

In a preferable aspect, the outside air opening portion is open facingdownward.

According to this configuration, the outside air opening portion is openfacing downward, and therefore even if water falls thereon from outsidethe vehicle body, there is little risk that the water will flow into theair bleeding tube through the outside air opening portion. Also, in thecase where the outside air opening portion is formed in each of the twoend portions of the branch tube, moisture that intrudes through one ofthe outside air opening portions can be discharged from the outside airopening portion that is on the opposite side and is open facingdownward.

(3) Other features and advantages achieved thereby will become apparentfrom the description given below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view according to a first embodiment (the same follows up toFIG. 10), showing a lateral side of a multipurpose work vehicle in itsentirety;

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the multipurpose work vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a transmission structure of themultipurpose work vehicle;

FIG. 4 is a front view in vertical section of a seatbelt attachmentportion;

FIG. 5 is a side view in vertical section of the seatbelt attachmentportion;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the seatbelt attachmentportion;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of the seatbelt;

FIG. 8 is a front view in vertical section of the seatbelt attachmentportion according to a modified embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a side view in vertical section of the seatbelt attachmentportion according to the modified embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the seatbelt attachmentportion according to the modified embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a view according to a second embodiment (the same follows upto FIG. 16), showing a lateral side of a work vehicle in its entirety;

FIG. 12 is an overall plan view of the work vehicle;

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a transmission system of the workvehicle;

FIG. 14 is a side view of a coupling portion between an engine and atransmission case;

FIG. 15 is a rear view in vertical section of the coupling portionbetween the engine and the transmission case; and

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the coupling portion between the engineand the transmission case.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, the front-rear direction and theright-left direction are defined as follows, unless particularly statedotherwise. Specifically, the direction of an arrow “F” in FIGS. 1 to 3and 11 to 13 is the “forward” or “front side”; the direction of an arrow“B” in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 11 to 13 is the “backward”, “rearward” or “rearside”; the direction of an arrow “R” in FIGS. 2, 3, 12 and 13 is the“right side”, and the direction of an arrow “L” in FIGS. 2, 3, 12 and 13is the “left side”.

First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to FIGS. 1 to 10. In this embodiment, the present invention isapplied to a multipurpose work vehicle, which is one example of a workvehicle.

Overall Configuration

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the work vehicle has a configuration includinga pair of right/left front wheels 1 that are steerable; a pair ofright/left rear wheels 2; a driver portion 4 that is located in thefront portion of the vehicle body and is covered by a cabin 3; a loadingplatform 5 that is located in the rear portion of the vehicle body; adrive portion 6 that is located below the loading platform 5, etc.

This work vehicle is a four-wheel drive type of vehicle that has atraveling drive system for transmitting drive power from the driveportion 6 to the front wheels 1 and the rear wheels 2, and is configuredas a utility vehicle that can be applied to various uses, such as cargotransport or recreation. The loading platform 5 is supported such thatthe rear end side is capable of swinging about an axis P that isoriented in the lateral direction at a rear end position of the vehiclebody, and has a configuration in which the front end side can be raisedby the operation of a dump cylinder 7 so as to discharge a loadrearward. A hood 8 that can be opened and closed is provided in thefront portion of the vehicle body, and front fenders 9 that cover theupper sides of the front wheels 1 are arranged at lower right/leftportions of the hood 8.

The driver portion 4 includes a driver seat 11 (one example of a seat)on which the driver (passenger) sits, and an auxiliary seat 12 (oneexample of a seat) on which an assistant (passenger) sits, the auxiliaryseat 12 being provided adjacent to the driver seat 11 on the right sidethereof. Also, a steering wheel 13 for steering and controlling thefront wheels 1, a main gearshift lever 14, etc. are provided at aposition in front of the driver seat 11. An accelerator pedal 16, whichserves as a gear shift operating tool for controlling the travellingspeed, and a brake pedal 17, which controls a brake apparatus (notshown) for braking the front wheels 1 and the rear wheels 2, areprovided at a position lower than the driver seat 11. Rear fenders 18are provided at the rear end side of the vehicle body to cover the upperside of the right/left rear wheels 2, and brake lamps 19 are provided inthe rear fenders 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drive portion 6 has a configuration in which theengine 20, the transmission case 21 and a hydrostatic steplesstransmission (HST, which will be referred to as a “steplesstransmission” below) 22 are integrally coupled in the stated order.Although described not in detail, the drive portion 6 is installed andsupported by a frame-shaped vehicle body frame 23 to prevent or restricttransmission of vibration to the driver portion 4.

Although the internal structure of the transmission case 21 is not shownin the drawings, the transmission case 21 includes a gear-type oftransmission apparatus that is configured to shift the drive power, thathas been shifted by the stepless transmission 22, to one of multiplegears, and also configured to switch the drive power between the forwardtravelling power and the rearward travelling power. The transmissioncase 21 further includes a rear wheel differential mechanism (notshown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the stepless transmission 22 includes an axialplunger type of variable displacement hydraulic pump 22A that isoperated by drive power from the engine 20, and an axial plunger type ofhydraulic motor 22B that is rotated by hydraulic fluid supplied from thehydraulic pump 22A.

In the drive portion 6, the engine 20 has an output shaft thereof(crankshaft, not shown) oriented along the front-rear direction. Thetransmission system thereof has a transmission shaft (not shown),coupled to the output shaft, extending through the transmission case 21in the front-rear direction, whereby the drive power from the engine 20is transmitted to the hydraulic pump 22A of the stepless transmission22, and the drive power from the hydraulic motor 22B of the steplesstransmission 22 is transmitted to the transmission case 21.

In the transmission case 21, the transmitted drive power is shifted bythe transmission apparatus, and the shifted power is transmitted to theright/left rear wheels 2 via the rear wheel differential mechanism,right/left rear output shafts 24 and right/left rear wheel drive shafts25; and as shown in FIG. 3, the shifted power is transmitted also to theright/left front wheels 1 via a front-to-rear shaft 26, a front wheeldifferential mechanism 27 and front wheel drive shafts 28.

Seatbelt Apparatus

A seatbelt apparatus 29 (simply referred to as a “seatbelt 29”hereinafter) for protecting a passenger is provided for each of thedriver seat 11 and the auxiliary seat 12 included in the driver portion4.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 as well, each of the seatbelts 29includes a belt reeling portion 33A/33B located on one side of the seat11/12 in the right-left direction (lateral outer side in the illustratedembodiment). The seatbelt 29 is attached via a stay 30 (one example of afirst stay) to a coupling support portion 36 a (one example of a firstfixing portion—to be described later) that is a vehicle body side fixingportion, whereby a belt 32 (one example of a belt main body) of theseatbelt 29 can be reeled and stored into the belt reeling portion33A/33B and can be drawn out of the belt reeling portion 33A/33B. Theseatbelt 29 further includes a buckle portion 35A/35B located on theother side of the seat 11/12 in the right-left direction (lateral innerside in the illustrated embodiment). The buckle portion 35A/35B isattached via another stay 30 (one example of a second stay) to anothercoupling support portion 36 a (one example of a second fixing portion—tobe described later) that is another vehicle body side fixing portion,whereby an insertion fixture 34 provided at a leading end of the belt 32drawn out of the belt reeling portion 33A/33B is inserted into thebuckle portion 35A/35B and fixed thereto.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the belt reeling portion 33A forthe driver seat 11 is provided on the left side of the driver seat 11,and the buckle portion 35A for the driver seat 11 is provided on theright side of the driver seat 11. On the other hand, the belt reelingportion 33B for the auxiliary seat 12 is provided on the right side ofthe auxiliary seat 12, and the buckle portion 35B for the auxiliary seat12 is provided on the left side of the auxiliary seat 12.

In this way, the belt reeling portion 33A for the driver seat 11 and thebelt reeling portion 33B for the auxiliary seat 12 are positioned onright/left opposite sides from each other; and the buckle portion 35Afor the driver seat 11 and the buckle portion 35B for the auxiliary seat12 are positioned on right/left opposite sides from each other. Insteadthereof, however, both the belt reeling portion 33A for the driver seat11 and the belt reeling portion 33B for the auxiliary seat 12 may bepositioned on a same side (one lateral side) in the right-leftdirection; and the buckle portion 35A for the driver seat 11 and thebuckle portion 35B for the auxiliary seat 12 may be positioned on a sameside (the other lateral side) in the right-left direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, each of the belt reeling portion 33A for the driverseat 11 and the belt reeling portion 33B for the auxiliary seat 12 isattached via the stay 30 associated therewith to a lateral frame body36. Also, the buckle portion 35A for the driver seat 11 and the buckleportion 35B for the auxiliary seat 12 is attached via the stay 30associated therewith to the lateral frame body 36. Specific descriptionswill not be given for the belt reeling portions 33A, 33B or the buckleportions 35A, 35B, since their configurations are well known in thepertinent art.

The four (4) stays 30 (i.e. stays 30 for attachment of the right/leftbelt reeling portions 33A, 33B and the stays 30 for attachment of theright/left buckle portions 35A, 35B) have different attachmentorientations, depending on whether the installation position eachthereof is on the right side or the left side of the seat. However, eachof the four (4) stays 30 has the same shape. Specifically, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 6, each stay 30 looks like a plate body bent into asubstantially L-letter shape as seen in the front-rear direction. Acoupling plate portion 37 of the buckle portion 35A, 35B or a couplingplate portion (configured similarly with a bolt bore, although notshown) of the belt reeling portion 33A, 33B may be coupled via a abolt38 to a vertical face portion 30 a of the stay 30. A horizontal faceportion 30 b of the stay 30 may be coupled, via two bolts 39, to thecoupling support portion 36 a (one example of the first fixing portionor the second fixing portion) that is integrally fixed to and extendsfrom the lateral frame body 36. Each bolt 39 for coupling with thecoupling support portion 36 a is vertically oriented and attached fromthe lower surface side such that a leading end portion of the bolt 39faces upward; and fastened and fixed by a nut 40 that is located on theupper side of the horizontal face portion 30 b of the stay 30.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a peripheral edge portion each of the verticalface portion 30 a and the horizontal face portion 30 b of the stay 30 isbent to one side in form of an approximately L-letter (substantially atright angles). This configuration may improve the support strength ofthe stay 30 while a plate thickness of the stay 30 is made small.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a cover member 41 (one example of a firstcover member or a second cover member) is attached to each of the four(4) stays 30 to cover an outward exposed portion. Each of the four (4)cover members 41 is configured with the same shape. Further, each covermember 41 is formed of a rubber material (one example of an elasticmaterial) into a one-piece mold product.

The cover member 41 is profiled with an approximately L-letter shapeshape as seen along the front-rear direction to extend substantiallyalong the outer shape of the stay 30 in order to cover the outwardexposed portion each of the vertical face portion 30 a and thehorizontal face portion 30 b of the stay 30. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,the cover member 41 has a cover portion 41A provided on an outerperipheral portion thereof. The cover portion 41A is configured to coveran outer edge each of the vertical face portion 30 a and the horizontalface portion 30 b of the stay 30, and to overlap in tight contact withthose outer edges to prevent intrusion of moisture, dust and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the bolt 39 is coupled to the lateralframe body 36, the leading end portion thereof protrudes upward beyondthe nuts 40. The cover member 41 includes a cylindrical portion 41Bconfigured to fit around the upwardly protruding portion 39A of the bolt39 associated therewith. The cylindrical portion 41B is formed of arubber material similarly to the remainder of the cover member 41. Theupper end portion of the cylindrical portion 41B is closed.

The cover member 41 is held in position by the cylindrical portions 41Band the bolts 39 being press-fitted by elastic force. Specifically, eachcylindrical portion 41B is formed at a position aligned the bolt 39associated therewith when the cover member 41 is properly attached tothe stay 30. Each cylindrical portion 41B has an inner diameter thereofslightly smaller than an outer diameter of the protruding portion 39A ofthe bolt 39. When the cover member 41 is to be attached to the stay 30,each bolt 39 is fitted into the cylindrical portion 41B while thecylindrical portion 41B undergoes elastic deformation. After theattachment, the cover member 41 is held in position by the cylindricalportions 41B and the bolts 39 being press-fitted by elastic force.According to this configuration, there is no need for a special couplingmember for attaching the cover member 41, and the cover member 41remains being held in position with a simple configuration.

Modified Embodiments of First Embodiment

(1) In the foregoing embodiment, the stay 30 has the peripheral edgeportion thereof bent to one side in form of an approximately L-letter(substantially at right angles), but this is not limitative.Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the stay 30 may be a platebody with a larger plate thickness and simply curved so as to beapproximately L-shaped.

(2) In the foregoing embodiment, the cover member 41 is made of anelastic material and is held in position by the integrally-formedcylindrical portions 41B and the bolts 39 being press-fitted together,but this is not limitative. Alternatively, the cover member 41 may beheld in position by fixing the cover member 41 by screws at locationsnot visible from the outside or otherwise; and the positioning structurecan be changed as desired. Still alternatively, the cover member 41 maybe formed of a metal material, a hard resin material or the like.

(3) In the foregoing embodiment, the stays 30 for attachment of the beltreeling portions 33A, 33B and the stays 30 for attachment of the buckleportions 35A, 35B are configured with the same shape, and the covermembers 41 are configured with the same shape, but this is notlimitative. Alternatively, the stays for attachment of the belt reelingportions 33A, 33B and the stays for attachment of the buckle portions35A, 35B may have different shapes from each other; and accordingly thecover members for the belt reeling portions 33A, 33B and the covermembers for the buckle portions 35A, 35B may have different shapes fromeach other.

(4) In the foregoing embodiment, two seats, namely the driver seat 11and the auxiliary seat 12, are provided, but this is not limitative.Alternatively, only the driver seat 11 may be provided, or the workvehicle may be of a four-passenger type in which two auxiliary seats areprovided in the rear portion of the vehicle body in addition to theauxiliary seat 12 that is adjacent to the driver seat 11. Stillalternatively, the number of auxiliary seats may be two, or four ormore.

(5) In the foregoing embodiment, a multipurpose vehicle (utilityvehicle) is described as an example of the work vehicle, but this is notlimitative. Other than a multipurpose vehicle, the present invention isapplicable to various types of work vehicles such as a tractor or a riceplanter.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11to 16. In this embodiment as well, a multipurpose work vehicle isdescribed as an example of a work vehicle.

Overall Configuration

As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the work vehicle has a configurationincluding a pair of right/left front wheels 101 that are steerable; apair of right/left rear wheels 102; a driver portion 104 that is locatedin the front portion of the vehicle body and is covered by a cabin 103;a loading platform 105 that is located in the rear portion of thevehicle body; a drive portion 106 that is located below the loadingplatform 105, etc.

This work vehicle is a four-wheel drive type of vehicle that has atraveling drive system for transmitting drive power from the driveportion 106 to the front wheels 101 and the rear wheels 102, and isconfigured as a utility vehicle that can be applied to various uses,such as cargo transport or recreation. The loading platform 105 issupported such that the rear end side is capable of swinging about anaxis P that is oriented in the lateral direction at a rear end positionof the vehicle body, and has a configuration in which the front end sidecan be raised by the operation of a dump cylinder 107 so as to dischargea load rearward. A hood 108 that can be opened and closed is provided inthe front portion of the vehicle body, and front fenders 109 that coverthe upper sides of the front wheels 101 are arranged at lower right/leftportions of the hood 108.

The driver portion 104 includes a driver seat 111 on which the driversits, and an auxiliary seat 112 that is provided at a position adjacentto the driver seat 111. Also, a steering wheel 113 for steering andcontrolling the front wheels 101, a main gearshift lever 114, etc. areprovided at positions in front of the driver seat 111; and at positionsdownwardly thereof, there are provided an accelerator pedal 116, whichserves as a gear shift operating tool for controlling the travellingspeed, and a brake pedal 117 (see FIG. 13), which controls a brakeapparatus (not shown) for braking the front wheels 101 and the rearwheels 102. Rear fenders 118 that cover the upper side of the right/leftrear wheels 102 are provided at the rear end side of the vehicle body,and brake lamps 119 are provided in the rear fenders 118 (see FIG. 12).

Drive Portion

As shown in FIG. 11, the drive portion 106 has a configuration in whichan engine 120, a transmission case 121 and a hydrostatic steplesstransmission (be referred to as “HST 122” below) are integrally coupledin the stated order. Although a specific description will not be givenfor the drive portion 106, the drive portion 106 is installed andsupported using a frame-shaped vehicle body frame 123 in a state inwhich vibration is prevented or suppressed from being transmitted to thedriver portion 104.

Although the internal structure of the transmission case 121 is notshown in the drawings, the transmission case 121 includes a gear-type oftransmission apparatus that is configured to shift the drive power, thathas been shifted by the stepless transmission 122, to one of multiplegears, and also configured to switch the drive power between the forwardtravelling power and the rearward travelling power. The transmissioncase 121 further includes a rear wheel differential mechanism (notshown).

As shown in FIG. 13, the stepless transmission 122 includes an axialplunger type of variable displacement hydraulic pump 122A that isoperated by drive power from the engine 120, and an axial plunger typeof hydraulic motor 122B that is rotated by hydraulic fluid supplied fromthe hydraulic pump 122A.

In the drive portion 106, the engine 120 has an output shaft thereof(crankshaft, not shown) oriented along the front-rear direction. Thetransmission system thereof has a transmission shaft (not shown),coupled to the output shaft, extending through the transmission case 121in the front-rear direction, whereby the drive power from the engine 120is transmitted to the hydraulic pump 122A of the stepless transmission122, and the drive power from the hydraulic motor 122B of the steplesstransmission 122 is transmitted to the transmission case 121.

In the transmission case 121, the transmitted drive power is shifted bythe transmission apparatus, and the shifted power is transmitted to theright/left rear wheels 102 via the rear wheel differential mechanism,right/left rear output shafts 124 and right/left rear wheel drive shafts125; and as shown in FIG. 13, the shifted power is transmitted also tothe right/left front wheels 101 via a lower output shaft (not shown)formed on the lower surface side, a front-to-rear shaft 126 that extendsforward from the lower output shaft, a front wheel differentialmechanism 127 and front wheel drive shafts 128.

A flywheel 129 is integrally-rotatably provided on the output shaft ofthe engine 120 at a location between the engine 120 and the transmissioncase 121. As shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, the flywheel 129 is covered in anairtight manner by a flywheel case 130.

Starter Air Bleeding Structure

As shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, a starter 131 is provided in the vicinity ofthe engine 120 for starting up the engine 120; and the starter 131 issurrounded by a starter case 132. Although the configuration of thestarter 131 is well known in the pertinent art and thus it is not shownin detail, the starter 131 includes: an electric motor; a pinion gearthat is driven to rotate by the electric motor; and an actuator such asa solenoid that enables the pinion gear to perform an extending andretracting operation between a retracted position in which the piniongear is retracted inside the starter case 132, and a projecting positionin which the pinion gear projects outward from the starter case 132 tobe meshed with a ring gear provided on the outer peripheral portion ofthe flywheel 129. Since the starter 131 includes an electrical devicesuch as the electric motor as described above, it is necessary to avoidintrusion of moisture into the starter 131.

Note that each of FIGS. 14 to 16 shows the transmission case 121 that iscut at a front-rear intermediate portion thereof in order to facilitateunderstanding of the air bleeding structure of the starter 131.

The pinion gear extends from and retracts into the starter case 132 bythe operation of the actuator to be switched between the state of beingmeshed with the ring gear and the state of not being meshed with thering gear. If the starter case 132 is made airtight, the atmosphericpressure in the starter case 132 sometimes decreases (becomes a negativepressure) in association with the retracting of the pinion gear, wherebyextending and retracting operations of the pinion gear cannot beperformed smoothly. In order to avoid the intrusion of moisture fromoutside while securing smooth extending and retraction operations of thepinion gear, an air bleeding tube 133 is provided to put the spaceinside the starter case 132 into communication with an outward spacehaving less risk of moisture intrusion.

The air bleeding tube 133 is provided in communication with the outwardspace via a joint connector 134 that is in communication with theinterior space of the flywheel case 130. The joint connector 134 has anapproximately cylindrical shape, and is attached so as to extend outwardin a direction orthogonal to the outer face of the flywheel case 130.The joint connector 134 has a base-side end portion that is open, and anextending-side end portion that is closed. The joint connector 134 isattached to the outer face of the flywheel case 130 at a lower positionof the flywheel case 130, and the base-side end portion is incommunication with the interior space of the flywheel case 130. Thejoint connector 134 is located at a level lower than the starter 131.

The starter 131 is flange-connected to the flywheel case 130 at aposition on a left lateral side of the engine 120. In more specific, aflange portion 135 is provided on the rear portion (portion closer tothe flywheel 129) of the starter case 132, and the flange portion 135 isbolt-coupled to a side face on the front portion (portion closer to theengine 120) of the flywheel case 130. An opening (not shown) is formedin the front side of the flywheel case 130 for allowing passage of thepinion gear.

The air bleeding tube 133 includes a first tube portion 136 that extendsfrom a position on the rear side of the starter case 132 to the jointconnector 134, and a second tube portion 137 that extends from the jointconnector 134 to a position above the transmission case 121.

In more specific, the first tube portion 136 extends from an openingportion 138 that is defined in the rear side of the starter case 132 tothe outer end portion of the joint connector 134. The first tube portion136 extends substantially along the up-down direction, wherein one endportion of the first tube portion 136 closer to the starter case 132 islocated on the upper side, and the other end portion of the first tubeportion 136 closer to the joint connector 134 is located on the lowerside.

On the other hand, the second tube portion 137 extends from anintermediate portion of the joint connector 134 toward outside airopening portions 139 that are located at positions above thetransmission case 121. The second tube portion 137 extends substantiallyalong the up-down direction, wherein one the end portion of the secondtube portion 137 closer to the joint connector 134 is located on thelower side, and the other end portion of the second tube portion 137closer to the outside air opening portions 139 is located on the upperside.

A branch tube 140 is connected to the second tube portion 137 of the airbleeding tube 133 at a portion of the second tube portion 137 adjacentto the outside air opening portions 139. The branch tube 140 extendssubstantially along the horizontal direction, and the outside airopening portions 139 are formed in opposite end portions of the branchtube 140. Opposite end portion of the branch tube 140 are bent togradually curve downward from a horizontally oriented portion of thebranch tube 140. The outside air opening portions 139 formed in the twoend portions are open to face downward.

The branch tube 140 is supported by a support member 141 that is fixedto an upper portion of the transmission case 121 and that is formed inan approximate U-letter as viewed along the front-rear direction. Inmore specific, a bracket 142 is attached to the support member 141 suchthat the bracket 142 extends between right/left vertical face portions141 a of the support member 141 to be supported by the right/leftvertical face portions 141 a, whereby an intermediate portion of thebranch tube 140 extending in the horizontal direction is integrallycoupled to and supported by the bracket 142. Although not shown, thesupport member 141 is a member for supporting a relay speed changeoperation mechanism that provides a link between the accelerator pedal116 and the speed change operation tool of the HST 122.

Each of the branch tube 140, a central tube 143 connected thereto andthe bracket 142 is formed of a metal material. Also, each of the jointconnector 134 and a connection tube portion 144 is formed of a metalmaterial. On the other hand, the first tube portion 136, which connectsthe starter case 132 to a tube portion (not shown) of the jointconnector 134, is formed of a rubber tube; and the second tube portion137, which connects the tube portion 144 and the central tube 143 of thejoint connector 134, is formed of a rubber tube as well. An intermediateportion of the second tube portion 137 in the up-down direction is heldin position by a holding tool 145 that is fixed to the support member141.

Modified Embodiments of Second Embodiment

(1) In the foregoing embodiment, the joint connector 134 is incommunication with the interior space at a position on the lower portionof the flywheel case 130, but this is not limitative. Alternatively, thejoint connector 134 may be in communication with the interior space at aposition on the upper portion of the flywheel case 130. Stillalternatively, the joint connector 134 may be in communication with theinterior space of the transmission case 121 instead of the flywheel case130. In this case, the joint connector 134 may be in communication withthe interior space at a position on the lower portion of thetransmission case 121, or in communication with the interior space at aposition on the upper portion of the transmission case 121.

(2) In the foregoing embodiment, the outside air opening portions 139 ofthe air bleeding tube 133 are provided at a position above thetransmission case 121, but this is not limitative. Alternatively, theoutside air opening portions 139 may be provided at a position above theengine 120.

(3) In the foregoing embodiment, the branch tube 140 that extendsapproximately in the horizontal direction is connected to the airbleeding tube 133 at a position adjacent to the outside air openingportions 139; and a total of two outside air opening portions 139 areformed at respective end portions of the branch tube 140, but this isnot limitative. Alternatively, the branch tube 140 may be omitted; andinstead one end portion of the air bleeding tube 133 may be opened toprovide a single outside air opening portion 139. Still alternatively aplurality of branch tubes may be provided to form three (3) or moreoutside air opening portions 139.

(4) In the foregoing embodiment, each outside air opening portion 139 isopen to face downward, but this is not limitative. Alternatively, theoutside air opening portion 139 may be open to face horizontally. Stillalternatively, the outside air opening portion 139 may be open to faceupward if a cover is provided above the outside air opening portion 139.

(5) In the foregoing embodiment, the engine 120 and the transmissioncase 121 are integrally coupled to each other, but this is notlimitative. Alternatively, the engine 120 and the transmission case 121may be separated from each other and individually supported by a frame.

(6) In the foregoing embodiment, a multipurpose vehicle (utilityvehicle) is described as an example of the work vehicle, but this is notlimitative. Other than a multipurpose vehicle, the present invention isapplicable to various types of work vehicles such as a tractor or a riceplanter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A work vehicle comprising: a vehicle body havinga driver portion, the vehicle body further having a first fixing portionand a second fixing portion; a seat provided in the driver portion; aseatbelt apparatus configured to protect a passenger seated on the seat,the seatbelt apparatus including: a belt main body, an insertion fixturebeing provided in a leading end portion of the belt main body, a firststay provided in correspondence with the first fixing portion on onelateral side of the seat, a belt reeling portion configured to reel andstore the belt main body, the belt reeling portion being attached to thefirst fixing portion via the first stay, a second stay provided incorrespondence with the second fixing portion on the other lateral sideof the seat, and a buckle portion configured to fix the insertionfixture extending from the belt reeling portion, the buckle portionbeing attached to the second fixing portion via the second stay; a firstcover member configured to cover an outward exposed portion of the firststay, the first cover member being mounted to the first stay; and asecond cover member configured to cover an outward exposed portion ofthe second stay, the second cover member being mounted to the secondstay.
 2. The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the first stayand the second stay are configured with the same shape, and the firstcover member and the second cover member are configured with the sameshape.
 3. The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the first stayis attached and fixed to the first fixing portion with use of a bolt,the second stay is attached and fixed to the second fixing portion withuse of a bolt, and each of the first cover member and the second covermember is constituted by an elastic material, includes a cylindricalportion configured to fit around a protruding portion of the bolt, andis held in position by the cylindrical portion and the bolt beingpress-fitted by elastic force.
 4. The work vehicle according to claim 1,wherein a plurality of the seats are provided.